Container means



J. P. MALONE CONTAINER MEANS July 11, 1961 Filed Jan. 11, 1960 FIG FIGZ

INVENTOR. W, 6 W

United States Patent 2,992,030 CONTAINER MEANS James P. Malone, '1 OdellCourt, Syosset, N.Y. Filed Jan. 11, 1960, Ser. No. 1,542 1 Claim. (Cl.292-17) This invention relates to pail type container means and moreparticularly to cover means adapted to fit the pail when the pail is outof round.

More particularly the invention relates to cover means for garbage pailswhich are adapted to fit the pail when either the pail or the cover isdamaged so as to be out of round.

One of the main difiiculties with garbage pails is that they are roughlyhandled by the garbage man and thrown and banged around the street. Alsothe garbage men customarily empty the pail by upturning it and slammingit down against the side of the truck. After a few months of thistreatment the garbage pails generally develop broken rims and are forcedout of round so that a cover will not normally fit on them.

Also the covers are generally thrown carelessly on the street, wherethey are stepped on and possibly run over by automobiles so that they,too, get out of round.

The present invention solves this ditficulty by providing a cover whichis oversize but which fits on the pails with a first ring of springfingers which are adapted to contact the outside of the pail and asecond ring of spring fingers which are adapted to contact the inside ofthe pail. The spring fingers are preferably spaced equally around thecover and preferably abut each other. Three or four sets of springfingers has been found adequate. If the pail is knocked out of round orthe rim is broken the spring fingers will give enough to accommodatethis situation and still hold the cover securely on the pail. Also, ifthe cover is bent or twisted, the spring fingers will still accommodatethemselves to the desired configuration and make the proper contact withthe pail.

Accordingly, a principal object of the invention is to provide new andimproved container means.

Another object of the invention is to provide new and improved garbagepail means.

Another object of the invention is to provide new and improved containermeans having a cover adapted to fit out of round, or broken, rim pails.

Another object of the invention is to provide new and improved covermeans for containers comprising an oversize cover, a first ring ofspring fingers connected to said cover and adapted to contact theoutside of a pail and a second ring of spring fingers connected to saidcover and adapted to contact the inside of a pail.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing specification and drawings, of which FIG. 1 is a sectionalview of an embodiment of the invention and FIG. 2 is a top view of theembodiment of FIG. 1.

Referring to the figures, the pail 1 is a conventional garbage pail ofthe cylindrical type. The cover 2 is oversize and is held on the pail bya first ring of spring fingers 3, 4, 5 and 6 which are spot welded orotherwise connected to the cover. They are equally spaced around in aring configuration so that they will bear against the inside surface ofthe pail.

A second ring of similar spring fingers 7, 8, 9 and 10 are similarlyconnected around the outer periphery of the cover preferably in abuttingrelation to the first group of spring fingers, so that when the cover istaken off the two rings of spring fingers will oppose each other andremain in substantially neutral position, that is, the perfectly roundposition of the pail. The spring fingers are preferably made of a goodgrade of steel and have sufficient strength to hold the cover on forordinary purposes. The spring fingers are adapted to give considerablyto accommodate an out of round condition of the pail as illustrated bythe distorted positions 7' and 3 of the spring fingers 7 and 3.

FIGURE 2 illustrates a condition where the pail 1 has an out of roundportion 12 and it is seen that the spring 7 will be compressed and thespring 3 will be extended to accommodate this condition.

Similarly, if the pail rim is broken as at 11 the springs 4 and 8 willsimilarly accommodate this condition.

Either the inner ring or the outer ring of springs may be usedseparately. However, in such case when the cover is taken off thesprings will normally extend themselves to such an extent that they willextend over the top of the pail providing difiiculty in attaching thecover to the pail. This situation does not exist when the two rings ofsprings are arranged in abutting relation.

Various modifications and substitutions of material may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of this invention, for instance, differentnumbers of springs may be used or ditferent materials such as plasticsmay be used.

I claim:

Cover means for a pail comprising a flat member sufficiently larger thanthe top of said pail to accommodate a first ring of spaced springfingers connected to the underside of said fiat member and adapted tobear against the outside surface of said pail, a second ring of spacedspring fingers connected to said flat member and adapted to bear againstthe inside of said pail, all said spring fingers being sufiicientlylarge and spaced a distance from the original preiphery of said pailsufiicient to accommodate a substantial deformation of the upperperiphery of said pail, said spring fingers of said first ring beingadapted to bear against the spring fingers of said second ring inabutting relation when said cover is removed along a line correspondingto the original periphery of said pail, said abutting spring fingersbeing sufiiciently large and mounted far enough apart to accommodatesubstantial deforming of the periphery of said pail and breaks in therim of said pail.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS871,271 Hall Nov. 19, 1907 1,167,920 Natsch Jan. 11, 1916 1,179,453Paton Apr. 18, 1916 1,643,661 Kendall Sept. 27, 1927 1,960,308 GrashowMay 29, 1934 2,837,236 Betner June 3, 1958

